In this study, we present observational evidence, based on satellite aerosol measurements and MERRA reanalysis data for the period 1979–2011, indicating that absorbing aerosols can have strong influence on seasonal-to-interannual variability of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall, including amplification of ENSO effects. We find a significant correlation between ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) and aerosol loading in April–May, with La Nina (El Nino) conditions favoring increased (decreased) aerosol accumulation over northern India, with maximum aerosol optical depth over the Arabian Sea and Northwestern India, indicative of strong concentration of dust aerosols transported from West Asia and Middle East deserts. Composite analyses based on a normalized aerosol index (NAI) show that high concentration of aerosol over northern India in April–May is associated with increased moisture transport, enhanced dynamically induced warming of the upper troposphere over the Tibetan Plateau, and enhanced rainfall over northern India and the Himalayan foothills during May–June, followed by a subsequent suppressed monsoon rainfall over all India, consistent with the elevated heat pump (EHP) hypothesis (Lau et al. in Clim Dyn 26:855–864, 2006. doi:10.1007/s00382-006-0114-z). Further analyses from sub-sampling of ENSO years, with normal (<1-σ), and abnormal (>1-σ) NAI over northern India respectively show that the EHP may lead to an amplification of the Indian summer monsoon response to ENSO forcing, particularly with respect to the increased rainfall over the Himalayan foothills, and the warming of the upper troposphere over the Tibetan Plateau. Our results suggest that absorbing aerosol, particular desert dusts can strongly modulate ENSO influence, and possibly play important roles as a feedback agent in climate change in Asian monsoon regionsRead More

Numerical experiments with the NASA finite-volume general circulation model show that heating of the atmosphere by dust and black carbon can lead to widespread enhanced warming over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and accelerated snow melt in the western TP and Himalayas. During the boreal spring, a thick aerosol layer, composed mainly of dust transported from adjacent deserts and black carbon from local emissions, builds up over the Indo-Gangetic Plain, against the foothills of the Himalaya and the TP. The aerosol layer, which extends from the surface to high elevation (~5 km), heats the mid-troposphere by absorbing solar radiation. The heating produces an atmospheric dynamical feedback—the so-called elevated-heat-pump (EHP) effect, which increases moisture, cloudiness, and deep convection over northern India, as well as enhancing the rate of snow melt in the Himalayas and TP. The accelerated melting of snow is mostly confined to the western TP, first slowly in early April and then rapidly from early to mid-May. The snow cover remains reduced from mid-May through early June. The accelerated snow melt is accompanied by similar phases of enhanced warming of the atmosphere–land system of the TP, with the atmospheric warming leading the surface warming by several days. Surface energy balance analysis shows that the short-wave and long-wave surface radiative fluxes strongly offset each other, and are largely regulated by the changes in cloudiness and moisture over the TP. The slow melting phase in April is initiated by an effective transfer of sensible heat from a warmer atmosphere to land. The rapid melting phase in May is due to an evaporation–snow–land feedback coupled to an increase in atmospheric moisture over the TP induced by the EHP effectRead More